Snow Falling On Cedars Essay -- essays research papers

racialism is the nonion that unrivalleds own ethnic stock is prime(prenominal) to that of well-nighone elses. Most all racism is as result of ignorance. racial discrimination can range from a simple comment to make other human being feel inferior, to complex actions that make others feel unwished-for in society because of who they be. The theme of racism can be seen throughout literature. In the slaughter mystery novel, blast Falling on Cedars, by David Guterson, many examples of wartime racism are evident.The novel is set on San Piedro Island impinge on the coast of Washington in the year 1954. It is a place of quin thousand damp souls (5). Kabuo Miyamoto, a member of the islands Nipponese-American community, is on trial for the murder of Carl Heine, a fellow fisherman. Heines boat was found drifting one morning, with his soundbox entangled in a net. While the death initially appeared accidental, bits of critical evidence that seemed to implicate Kabuo Miyamoto accu mulated. Etta Heine, Carls engender, unjustly cheated Kabuos family out of some land during the war while the Miyamotos were incarcerated in a "relocation tent" in California. This provided motive for the apparent murder. Also, Carls traumatic head trauma appeared suggestive of a Japanese kendo blow. Furthermore, Carl Heines blood type was found on a wooden gaff on Kabuo Miyamotos boat. As the trial proceeded, the composition of Carl, Kabuo, and what happened that nighttime gradually evolved, as did the tale of pariah Chambers, the local newspaper reporter. shipwreck survivor had a love affair with Kabuos wife when they were both adolescents, just in the lead the Japanese families were sent away in 1942. It was clear, however, that this was more than just a story of one mans guilt or innocence it is a story of a communitys fear and prejudice against the Japanese-Americans in the midst of a war. In fact, Guterson even tells the reader that Japanese tidy sum who were n ot American citizens were not even allowed to own property. We gotta take this All this stuff Theres a war on and thats the way it is Any nonagenarian country stuff we have to take (196). Many of the things that the Japanese people were subjected to during the war were as result of ignorance.Ignorance seems to be the clue to almost all of the occurrences of racism in the novel. During Kabuos trial, he chose to keep quiet or else of sticking up for himself because in his religion, ... ...veryone who lives in it. At the end of the book, Hatsue tells Ishmael that she does not love him, compared to her husband, whom she met and married in the course of a hardly a(prenominal) short months. The reader is left wondering at this point if Hatsue is genuinely being truthful or if she is merely saying that to honor her mothers wishes to marry a boy of her own kind. Mrs. Shigemura believed that exsanguinous men carry in their hearts a secret craving for pure young Japanese girls (84). Th is effectively shows the stereotype the Japanese had of pureness people. However, there is one key difference, and that is throughout the novel, no matter how they are treated, the Japanese people are always respectful towards everybody.In the novel, Snow Falling on Cedars, by David Guterson, the exotic sensuality of a Japanese woman, and the frustration of a white man in being proscribe from partaking of her by both his and her societies, are clearly illustrated. The story of a agitate against racism, and an imprisoned culture whose only crime was their face is retold. Yet in the end, one is left to contemplate, Why do people who have lived unneurotic in a community for years suddenly turn against one another?